You may use Guns to make declarations (see page 116) about the type of ammunition you happen to be carrying on your person at any one time. For a fate point you may even declare that you're carrying very unusual ammunition, such as bullets cast from inherited silver or hollow points filled with holy water.

You are adept at building, modifying, and repairing firearms. You may use Guns instead of Craftsmanship to build and repair firearms (see the Build and Repair trappings, page 125). In addition, when using a firearm you have personally built or modified you deal an extra +1 damage on a successful hit.

Marked by Minor Power: You've been marked by the Spring Court, which is a ghost of its former power, in a way recognizable to those with a magical affinity. Such people and creatures will see your affiliation, but won't be impressed by the association. If you absolutely must conceal this mark, you can, but it takes some concentration—use any appropriate skill (Stealth or Deceit, usually) restricted by Discipline to do so, but you can’t do anything stressful (like combat) without dropping the concealment.

Arcane Senses: Even with your third eye closed you have heightened arcane senses. You may use Lore as if it were an arcane Investigation skill as well as an arcane Alertness skill. You also gain +1 to Lore when using it in this fashion.Wizard's Touch: As another aspect of your arcane senses, when you touch another being who has some magic potential, the GM may ask you to roll Lore to catch just a hint of a "spark" - indicating their nature as something other than mundanely mortal. Even on a failed roll, you might experience some sort of sense that something is "off", without being able to pin it down.Opening the Third Eye: You may use the Sight to fully open your third eye, with all of the risks and rewards that come with it. See page 223 for details on how the Sight works.

Rift Sense. You're able to sense places where the fabric of reality is weak, allowing easy passage into or out of the Nevernever. You may use Investigation or Lore to find such places.Rift Maker. You are able to tear a temporary hole between this world and the next, allowing people and things to pass into or out of the Nevernever for a few seconds (it takes a true spellcaster to hold a rift open for longer). You may only do this once per scene (or per hour, if more appropriate). Some supernatural power-players will get a bit agitated or excited about this, however, since this inevitably weakens the fabric between the Nevernever and our own world in a given location.Strange Worlds. By dint of using this ability and not, y'know, dying or getting enslaved in Faerie or the like, you've had enough exposure to the Nevernever to have a degree of familiarity with it. All Lore and Survival checks regarding the geography of the Nevernever and other trivia involving it are made at +2, and you may use Lore instead of Survival while there.

Alissa's family, the Jordan-Wrights, are a wealthy and influential family in Portland. Her father, Nicholas, is an important CEO of Weber Logistics, one of Portland's largest logistics companies, and her mother, Jessica, is a senior software developer working for Intel. Her two brothers, James and Alex, the former six years older than Alissa and the latter two years, are following in their parents' steps, James working on Weber as well and Alex in his final year of a Computer Science's degree.

When Alissa was born, there was much celebration in the family, since Nicholas and Jessica had always wanted a daughter. As she grew up, however, the child Alissa began to hear strange voices, a problem which only increased as she got older. At first, her brothers and parents thought it was just a child's stories, but as the voices continued and grew in frequency and intensity, her parents had no choice but to get her to a psychiatric consult. Alissa was diagnosed by three different psychotherapists, the best that money could buy, with schizophrenia. Her parents had a hard time accepting that their daughter was a schizophrenic, but they agreed to start a treatment right away. Unfortunately for Alissa, no treatment for schizophrenia worked on her at all, and she continued to hear voices regardless of what medications she took, leading the doctors to believe she had some other, unexplained hallucinatory illness instead.

The discovery that their daughter was not only mentally ill, but with an unknown and intractable illness was an even harder blow to Nicholas and Jessica, who slowly but constantly distanced themselves from their own daughter, to the point of neglect. Alissa was not mistreated - she was fed, clothed, had access to education -, but for all intents and purposes, it was like she was not part of the family. Her parents came to show more concern for the family dog than to her, to the point of not speaking to her at all; an attitude that her brothers quickly took up, for they were grounded otherwise. Alissa also wasn't allowed to leave the house, on the grounds that she was mentally ill, and as such she spent most of her childhood confined to her bedroom, home-schooling herself through the internet and the large collection of books the family had. With time, her brother James grew to have the same thoughts about her than their parents, though Alex changed his own views as they grew up, and he started to regard her as a sister again, going out of his way to help her without their parents knowing.

When she turned 16, Alissa left her parent's house to live by herself, in an informal "contract" with her parents. She stayed out of their lives, and they stayed out of hers. Her parents send her a monthly fee for her to support herself, but other than that she is as good as dead to them. She could still count on Alex, however. Alissa enrolled into Portland State University, easily earning scores higher than the necessary on the aptitude tests for home-schooled freshmen, given her superior self-education. She began pursuing a Physics Major and a Mathematics Minor, blowing through the courses almost effortlessly. Being at the University didn't meant only studies, however, and it gave Alissa exposure she had never had before, doing things by herself and actually interacting with other people. Unfortunately for her, she had grown into a more-than-beautiful woman, attracting the attention of many admirers and pretenders, while she herself had no interest in a relationship. Scarred by her isolated upbringing, Alissa had developed a distaste for relations with others; she wasn't exactly awkward or shy on social situations, she simply didn't care for maintaining friendships or romantic relationships, failing to see any purpose in them.

Aspect: "My Parents were the Internet"What it means: Alissa has no memories or notions of a happy family, and has developed a distance towards other people, seeing relationships as worthless. She has also spent most of her time as a child on the Internet, absorbing the gamut of knowledge there, both good and bad.

The University wasn't a place only for the study of science, though that was a sort of passion for Alissa - science was simple, after all, instead of complex and complicated like human relations; Alissa began delving into the study or other subjects as well, in her free time; things like paranormal sightings, poltergeists and vampiric appearances. Sadly, there was no way to separate what was true information (or resembled truth, at least) from rubbish, so most of Alissa's efforts resulted in interesting, but useless conclusions. During this time, she began to spend a lot of time on Powell's, mostly searching for occult books and references, with the Internet being her other major source of information. That changed when she met Mikhel, a mysterious jovial man whom she found looking - staring, truly - at her one day while she searched one of the many galleries in Powell's for more books on the occult. When the man noticed she had seen him, he joined her, and started talking to her. Alissa tried to tell him off by saying she was interested in books on the occult because she was haunted by spirits which made she hear voices, but the man only laughed and voiced a mutual interest in the occult, joining her pursuit of more books while chit-chatting with her.

Strangely, Mikhel was around most of the times Alissa went to Powell's, even raising the suspicion in her that she was being followed by the man, but he never did or said anything out of the ordinary or that could be called threatening, so she didn't do anything. Disturbingly, she found herself liking the man's company, despite her usual coolness towards other people, and it was not hard for her to consider a relationship with him. She quickly discarded the thought, however, knowing that nothing of good or useful could come out of such things as "relationships". As the days passed, however, she felt more and more at ease around Mikhel, to the point of almost trusting him. She even began to feel physically attracted towards him, though on retrospect, she had felt that from the first day already.

One day, however, Alissa didn't find Mikhel on Powell's. She found it strange, but didn't pay it much attention. On the same day, she took her time on the City of Books, and when she realized it, it had been dark for a few hours already. As she left the store to go home, though, she passed through a parking lot, where she caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye. Curious, she got closer, sneaking through the shadows as best as she could, until she realized that there were two men talking together - and one of them was Mikhel. Both were set in a rigid stance, wary of each other, but oblivious to their surroundings, such was the intent glares they shared, which allowed Alissa do get close enough to listen... which she would later thoroughly regret.

"She knows nothing," Mikhel was saying to the stranger, "and that changes a lot. Inform Lord Blake that it would be best to wait until she discovers the truth before we take her." The dark figure nodded, and said in a hoarse, almost unintelligible voice, "Indeed. The White Court can hardly waste its resources at the moment, especially with the vacuum left by the Red and this Moritica and her scourge invading our territory. You are to return to your old duties for the time being, Mikhel. You did good." Mikhel bowed his head slightly, though it was a rigid and uncomfortable movement for him, "Yes, my Lord."

Heart racing, Alissa cautiously stepped back. She hadn't heard much, but she had heard enough. Mikhel was definitively talking about her with that spooky man, and he said something about taking her. By the gods, he was a lunatic. A psycho. She was in danger. She got out of the parking lot as quckly as she managed, without making any noise, and ran home as fast as she could. Of course, the fear she was feeling wasn't near enough the fear she felt when she finally discovered, days later, what the White Court Mikhel spoke about was.

Aspect: "It Just Comes to Me"What it means: Trouble, guys, attention, whatever... it all just seems to come to Alissa, no matter if she wants it or not.

It seemed that Mikhel really returned to his "old duties", since Alissa didn't see him on Powell's again. At first she had been afraid of returning to the bookshop, especially after discovering that he was a vampire - a freaking vampire! -, but she finally conquered her fears and made herself go to it. She could hardly call herself interested in the supernatural if the first monster - oh my god, monsters were real! - that appeared scared her away from it. Still, it took more than a week for her to muster her courage; but she did, and she returned to her normal daily life, though now with added knowledge - and still seeking for more.

One day, while Alissa was following a trail of suspicious information about the supernatural, she was careless and found herself in a seedier part of town, way past midnight. Thugs weren't what scared her, though, and she had reason to be scared, since she was following a trail on the Black Court - though she didn't know that. Predictably, while taking an alley to short-cut her way into a better part of town, she came across a gruesome scene: a Black Court vampire feeding on a hapless mortal. The vampire noticed her, and its eyes glittered with lust for her blood... she began to run away. The creature choose to not pursue, still feeding itself on the corpse it already had, but it sent its infernal darkhounds against Alissa, to put her down, perhaps for a later meal. Three such creatures were with the vampire, and they quickly shot out in pursuit, faster than any normal dog. Alissa had her gun (she had begun preparing after discovering the truth about the supernatural), but the creatures were much too fast, and her skill much too low for her to shoot them while running. No; she needed a plan.

Despair slowly creeping up on her, Alissa raced through the possibilities. She knew that the... creature... that had sent these... dogs... after her was probably a vampire, since he was drinking the blood of a person, so she quickly went through the usual vampire weaknesses that she had discovered in her research. Of course, these things were dogs, not vampires, but perhaps they were also weak against the same things their masters were...? They surely didn't seem normal. Of all the weaknesses, holy water seemed the easiest: sunrise was still quite some hours away, garlic would be hard to be found at that hour, and she could hardly grapple with the dog-creatures with a wooden stake, even if she had one. Running as fast as she could and spraying some random shots behind her in hopes of hitting the dogs, she steered towards the nearest church; which, she sadly realized, she didn't know was. She was lost.

How would she manage to survive the darkhounds?

Aspect: "That is Just Wrong... and I Like It"What it means: Alissa is in love with the supernatural and the unexplainable, and she has an endless curiosity over it. She might even put herself at risk just to discover more about the world of the occult.

It was another normal day for Alissa, spending time at Powell's, when the bizarre happened: she saw something incredible, a true proof of magic... and she couldn't help but follow the woman that came with it, following who she would later learn to be Katherine Elizabeth Yardly, an employee in Powell's and a true practitioner of magic. She was excited to have seen proof of magic, but she was somewhat afraid of the woman as well - especially after Alissa realized that she was going into the Shanghai Tunnels. Still, she followed on, her curiosity getting the better of her one more time. Alissa tried to sneak after the woman, but it seemed that she was too perceptive for it, or discovered the presence of another with magic - who knew what magic could do? Either way, once Alissa had been discovered, Kat introduced herself, not without a heavy tone of lecture, telling how dangerous her little trip would be, and how Alissa should go back home and forget what she had seen at Powell's, while Alissa was vehemently replying "No, no!" and "I can help!"

It turned out that, unfortunately, Alissa was more trouble than help. Taking advantage of Kat's distraction as the practitioner tried to convince Alissa to go home, the boogeyman she had been hunting took advantage of the situation and sneak-attacked Kat. She was unprepared and the creature was overfed, balancing the boogeyman's usual weakness and making it actually stronger than Kat. Suddenly wary and without time to think, Alissa hurled herself against Kat, somehow detaching the boogeyman from the practitioner and turning its attention toward herself. The attack was gruesome, making her feel a multitude of fears and a very deep kind of despair that she hadn't felt since she was a child; but, fortunately, her blunder bought enough time for Kat to properly prepare her magic, and exorcise the boogeyman for good.

Aspect: "I Can Help!"What it means: Alissa doesn't have any supernatural powers, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have the will to help her friends (or even random people in need). She will always try to help, even if her abilities are not quite up to it.

One day, Alissa found herself pursuing a clue on the Artificial Horizon, a rough sailor bar near the docks, where she actually would rather not be. Trying to lay low and obtain information at the same time was difficult, especially for someone with Alissa's striking looks. After some twenty minutes, she was about to give up already, unsure if any information she obtained would offset the trouble she was having in the bar, trying to not notice attention, when she caught with the corner of her eye a sudden movement, and a mass of people suddenly leaving the bar, violence in their eyes and in the way their muscles were set. Trouble, probably. Too curious for her own good, Alissa followed discreetly to an alley, where she found a gang of thugs cornering a lone man. Alissa didn't know the specifics of the dispute, or who was in the right or in the wrong, but that was plain cowardice, to have a group against a lone man. Trembling with rage - but also with fear -, Alissa showed herself in the mouth of her alley, and shouted on the top of her lungs, trying to divert the attention of the thugs. They looked back, and two of them began moving towards her... she bolted from the scene, hoping the distraction had been enough to tip the balance a bit in the lone man's favour.

Aspect: "I Use What I Have"What it means: Being generally less powerful and less knowledgeable than the foes she generally has to face, Alissa uses whatever she can find to leverage her weaknesses and tip the balance to her side.

Ruben, I was thinking if even while she is still a mortal, we could use her trouble Aspect "Am I Mad or Haunted?" for plot-related issues. Nothing major, but on situations where she could, for example, have a "hunch" and take the right door (just a poor example), instead I invoke the aspect so she hears a voice telling her to take the right door. Of course, that could work the other way too, making her choose the wrong door (or whatever) instead.

I'm also thinking on a better High Concept. Supernatural Geek hardly seems interesting... I've thought about changing "Am I Mad or Haunted?" from Trouble to High Concept and coming up with a new Trouble. Thoughts?

Hmn, seeing that it tormented her entire childhood and pretty much defined who she is, I'd argue against that... But I see where you're coming from. Though just using Tormented Supernatural Geek would be almost the same as what her other aspects already tell, and I don't see much invoke/compel potential in that... :/

On the subject of the high concept I think that Supernatural Geek works well enough for now. If anything I might change "What Do I really Think About Mikhel" before anything else, as it's the least useful of your aspects.

I was thinking it on the spirit of introducing a character, more than the exact wording. Through it, invokes/compels could be used related to the NPC Mikhel... Though you said your thoughts on that already, so I can change it if necessary (and if the aspect isn't needed to introduce the NPC)

Ah yes, also, in her novel I was thinking of making Alissa confront a supernatural threat and be saved by Mikhel (if only because that's the only way she would survive such an encounter). I had thought about the threat being another White Court vampire, to provide the hook of the White Court and maybe dissension within it in Portland, but I'm taking suggestions to what that threat could be.

Also needed is feedback on the custom stunt I created, On-line Contacts, to see if its okay. I figure that she should be pretty apt at gathering information through the internet, but the straight Contacts skill didn't make much sense for her.